Founded by ladies of the local Presbyterian Church in 1883, the facility provides safety and shelter for older women of limited financial means. It’s a home where they can live out their years without fear of eviction.

Back in the 19th century, widows had no inherent rights to their husbands’ property; if a will did not provide for them, they were on their own. Even today, many senior women find themselves struggling to support themselves after their spouse’s death or a fiscal crisis.

“It was a safety net for me, and for so many other women. You’ve done a great, great service to all of us, and I thank you,” one of the residents told the Homeless Solutions board at a recent ceremony dedicating the renovations.

The woman said her career as an event planner tanked during the economic meltdown in 2008; by 2012, she no longer could afford her apartment.

“I was really in trouble,” the woman recounted. “A friend said, ‘Why don’t you look into Morristown? They have a place there that you might be interested in.'”

Mayor Tim Dougherty praised the Mt. Kemble Home as “part of the fabric of our Historic District. “It fits in well with Morristown’s history,” he said at the ceremony.

The Mayor said he looks forward to working with Homeless Solutions on an eight-unit affordable housing project at 88 Martin Luther King Ave.

Established in 1983, the nonprofit Homeless Solutions owns and manages 57 units. Those units housed 120 people, including 47 children, in 2015. HSI sheltered and housed another 345 people, including 81 children, in its shelter and transitional housing program.

In 2013, the organization–which goes by the motto “A Hand up, not a Handout,” assumed control of the Mt. Kemble Home, which is on state- and federal historic registers.

“We knew that if we didn’t make the necessary improvements on the home, we would lose it and never get it back,” said former Homeless Solutions CEO Betsey Hall.

“The real heroes in all of this are the former board members [of the Mt. Kemble Home] who didn’t allow their egos to get in the way. They recognized that by turning it over to Homeless Solutions, we could bring it back to life,” Hall said.

The renovated porch at the Mt. Kemble Home in Morristown. Photo by Berit OllestadThe former ‘Old Ladies Home,’ now known as the Mt. Kemble Home. Photo by Berit Ollestad